Whether you plan to self-insure, rely on employer or government provided benefits, or personal insurance, you should discuss your plan with Futurecare Associates.

Resources for an insured cushion against the cost of long term care have evolved from stand-alone (traditional) policies to choices between hybrid (life+long term care) or asset-based policies (single premium, or limited pay, life+long term care).

If you’ve had a stand-alone policy for a number of years, you’ve likely experienced increases in your premium. Some increases have been huge over time.

What has also happened over time are substantial increases in the cost of new stand-alone policies.

If you compare your current higher premium to what it would cost to buy the benefits you have now, considering your age and health today, you may just as likely find that your inforce policy is less expensive than it would be if you could replace it at today’s rates.

You may also find that you can’t buy the same benefits today that your inforce policy provides.

So our first observation is that, if you’re currently insured with a stand-alone policy, be very careful to keep your current benefits and cost in perspective with what it would cost to replace your policy with a new one.

If you are newly considering insured long term care benefits, we do encourage you to explore each of the options now available—stand-alone, hybrid, and asset-based.

Before you do so, you owe it to yourself to at least get a preliminary indication of whether or not you are insurable for long term care coverage purposes.

In this website the For Consumers module provides an LTC Pre-Qualification Health Form which will allow us, without disclosing your name, to get an informal indication from the major insurers concerning your insurability.

Should you want to consider costs for various product alternatives, we would then be able to do so for you with a reasonable idea of how various insurers would treat an application from you.

There are substantial differences between stand-alone, hybrid, and asset-based policies. However, two points are very basic:

Hybrid and asset-based policies, because of the provision of a life insurance benefit, answer the “use it or lose it” objection to stand-alone policies. A benefit is certain to be paid . . . either in the form of a death benefit, or a long term benefit, or both, if you are insured through a hybrid or asset-based product at the time of your death.

Hybrid and asset-based policy premiums are fixed at the time the policy is issued—they will never increase. Stand-alone premiums are vulnerable to future increases.

We invite you to allow us to discuss these very different alternatives with you, as well as to consider whether, in your circumstances, you may be better advised not to purchase insurance, or to self-insure against the risks of long term care.

Our interest is in serving your best interest, not in simply selling a product.